Barnet 3 Accrington Stanley 0

WHEN a bee stings it dies. But there was little in Barnet's performance to suggest the club will go the same way as the inspiration for their nickname.

The Conference leaders never outclassed Accrington Stanley, but they took their chances, and that will no doubt be to their benefit when the season reaches its climax.

For the Reds, however, their intermitent lack of conviction in front of goal could be their Achilles heel in the promotion shake-up.

John Coleman's men could easily have got something from this game, but they failed to carry the momentum through from last week's 5-0 rout over Northwich Victoria.

Having a goal disallowed for offside didn't help.

Had Ian Craney's side-foot into an empty net not been, arguably, wrongly ruled out for offside it could have been a different story.

At that stage Stanley would have got back on level terms after coming out for the second half in a visibly more positive frame of mind.

But there were other chances and openings that could have led to an equaliser before and afterwards which weren't taken - something which the Reds will need to address if they are to stay in the mix.

Stanley found themselves on the back foot as Barnet attacked down the Underhill slope in the first half, but Mike Flynn and Robbie Williams provided a solid barrier to deny striker Guiliano Graziolii.

Having the Conference leading goalscorer taken care of though didn't rule out threats from fellow front man Liam Hatch or wingers Richard Graham and Ben Strevens. Nor, indeed, left back Simon Clist.

The pacy defender popped up from nowhere to pick up a loose ball after Barnet's burst down the left wasn't cleared, jogged forward a couple of yards before his right foot 30-yard drive stunned everyone, not least new goalkeeper Paul Crichton, who was beaten at his near post.

Stanley had carved out their first real chance just six minutes earlier, one of only a handful of first-half forages forward as the Reds opted to defend in numbers and prevent their 1-0 deficit from getting worse.

Andy Procter was presented with a good chance on 15 minutes after Paul Mullin played him through, but the midfielder had been caught offside before having his shot blocked by goalkeeper Scott Tynan.

Barnet wide man Graham forced a good save from Crichton after jinking past two token challenges and captain Ian Hendon bent a shot just wide on the half-hour before Stanley enjoyed their best spell of pressure.

Lee McEvilly used his strength to burst forward but ran into trouble on the edge of the box when he had Mullin in support.

Mullin had the chance to draw level handed to him on a plate soon afterwards, but the Stanley striker scuffed a chip wide with only the advancing keeper to beat.

Craney then found himself with options either side of the box after a good drive upfield but chose to go solo and shot straight into the grateful arms of Tynan from some 35 yards.

Stanley's ploy to switch from 4-4-2 to 4-5-1 on the defensive after the first goal succeeded in stopping Paul Fairclough's pace-setters in taking a bigger advantage into half-time.

But it was back to Plan A in the second half as the Reds sought to take full advantage of attacking down the slope.

They had a bit more spark after the break, but when Craney had his celebrations brought to a halt after Mullin's saved effort had been palmed into his path to bury into an empty net, Barnet doubled their lead four minutes later.

The ball was worked from right to left without being challenged, Graham was in acres of space to receive it, and while Williams raced across to cover, it was not enough to stop the winger from driving the ball past Crichton.

Stanley still had chances to recover but Mullin had a low shot saved then nodded a free header just wide, Craney's drive was blocked, and in the last 10 minutes the duo just missed the target with good opportunities.

Barnet's farcical final goal simply summed up the Reds' luck - or lack of it.

Graham's long ball forward was flicked back off the head of Mike Flynn to his goalkeeper, but Crichton had come off his line. The ball bounced off the crossbar but before the Stanley stopper could grab it, Hatch knocked it in on the line.